A Study on the Characteristics of Prophets by Sister Kathy Garner
Ephesians 4:11-1611And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
We will take a look into the characteristics of the Prophets in the Bible
1. Strong Prophets are strong in God. In Numbers 12:3 we read, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) The word meek means: to have power under control. Moses had great authority from God and had a gift to handle the power.
2. Sensitive to the Spirit of God All prophets, those listed in the word of God and those working to build the Church of today have to be sensitive to the moving of the God to be able to flow in the anointing. Note: Prophetic people have to guard their spirits. Don’t allow just any music, talking, movies, etc. into your spirit.
All Christians open their spirits with their listening ears, seeing eyes and minds. Be careful what you allow in your eyes, ears and mind.
3. Judgmental/opinionated Prophets seem judgmental and opinionated because the spirit of God is so strong in their lives that it makes sinners uncomfortable to be in their presence. Matthew 3:7-8 says, “ 7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: John was bold for the Lord and seemed judgmental.
4. Bold /Stubborn True prophets seem stubborn because they hear the voice of God and if it lines up with the word of God, no one will change their minds. In I Kings 18, Elijah hears the voice of God and calls boldly for the prophets of Baal to come forth and eventually destroys them. Note: We also see the Lord using here Elijah in what seemed a very judgmental way. Prophets are not known for being politically correct.
5. Mouthpieces for God I Samuel 2 is one of many examples where prophets hear the voice of God and expound to the people what they have heard. Another example is where the Lord tells Samuel to go and anoint David as king and tells him who David is and what to do.
6. Psalmist/song leaders Of course we think of David as we think on the psalmist leading in worship but, don’t forget Miriam in Exodus 15: 20And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 22So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
7. Known for dreams/visions Miriam and Aaron were told in Numbers 12: 4And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. 5And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. 6And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream
Also remember Joseph the dreamer: Gen: 37 5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed Gen 37: 19And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
8. Leaders Abraham was a leader, Moses in Exodus 6 known as their leader. David, Samuel, Deborah, Isaiah, etc., all were known for being leaders. All through the word of God we see Prophets hearing the voice and God and leading the people.
9. Hermits In I Kings 19 :9-10 (Elijah goes to a cave to think about Jezebel’s threats). 9And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. Prophets like to be alone and meditate on the word and hear the voice of God in prayer.
10. Very dramatic/see only black and white I Kings 18 15And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. 16So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? 18And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. Leaders that followed God as King David loved the prophets but those that sinned dreaded the prophets and the judgment that followed.
11. Chosen/called Prophets are called by God. Only God chooses who will be a prophet. I Corinthians 12: 27Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 28And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 29Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
12. Obedient to the Lord and His cause I cannot conclude this study without recognizing the obedience in the prophets’ life. It is not easy being different or being sensitive in a sinful world, thank God for the vessels of honor that will hear the voice of God and boldly proclaim what He says.
Father we thank you for the 5 fold ministries in operation building your church. A-men
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Pickles, How to change from a sour vessel to a sweet one!
It takes faith to please God! Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
How do you turn a jar of sour dill pickles (32 oz) into a jar of sweet ones?
(How does God take a sour unhappy person and turn them into a sweet smelling vessel of honor?)
2 Corinthians 2:15
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
1. OPEN THE JAR He asks you to let Him open the jar (open up your spirit to Him)
Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
2. We pour ourselves out to God. We trust you Lord with our Whole Spirit, Soul, and Body. Romans 10:9-10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved
We must allow the Holy Spirit to drain us of unbelief, past sins, unforgiveness and any other areas of our lives not pleasing to the Father.
3.Cut pickles into ½ inch slices
Once we except Christ expect the enemy of our souls to start cutting on you. ( you can’t stay a Christian, You couldn’t ever be a goody two shoes… Remember the enemy will use friends, relatives, etc… to try to get you back. Be wise to him!
Note: to believers, All things work for good to those that love the Lord, allow the Lord to use these cutting times to get closer to you. Learn and practice His presence.
4. Return to jar! Hey what happened? I am a new person but I still have the same body, the same job, the same school? But, even thou I look the same I am a new vessel. You will still be you, but with new thinking.
5. Add sugar! Time to get into the word.
Psalm 119:103
How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Proverbs 24 13My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:
14So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
6. Time for the 3 Tablespoon of cider vinegar. This time God will put back a Spirit within you that still looks like you and tastes likes you, but because of the sweet word of God filling you and changing you, you will be renewed by the word of God. This time the vinegar is sweet, because of the word changing us.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
7. Add the 1 Tablespoon of onion (you will still have tears with your new life, but now we have the peace that passes understanding that yes, James 1 12Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Also, as the great song says, “If I’d never had a problem I wouldn’t know that God could solve them.”
8. Add 1 Tablespoon of celery seed (It’s time to get planted in a church that teaches the word of God.) Only something with a seed planted starts growing. (Don’t despise small beginnings. 1 Timothy 4:12
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
9. Cover / put the lid back on 1 Corinthians 6:20
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Psalm 91:4
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psalm 3:3
But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
10. Shake until covered Our Lord wants us all and He will allow us to be shaken so He can get to every part.
I Peter 4 12Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
13But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
11. Refrigerate for at least 1 week,
I love this! A week is 7 days and 7 is the number of completion. Let the Lord do a complete work in you,
12. Shake occasionally remember be wise. The enemy of our soul is going to plan to shake you up , but God will be there to use the shaking to get closer to you. I love that the shaking is on # 12 Gov. Authority. Stand on the word and what you have learned. (Ep. 6 put on the whole armor…)
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
How do you turn a jar of sour dill pickles (32 oz) into a jar of sweet ones?
(How does God take a sour unhappy person and turn them into a sweet smelling vessel of honor?)
2 Corinthians 2:15
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
1. OPEN THE JAR He asks you to let Him open the jar (open up your spirit to Him)
Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
2. We pour ourselves out to God. We trust you Lord with our Whole Spirit, Soul, and Body. Romans 10:9-10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved
We must allow the Holy Spirit to drain us of unbelief, past sins, unforgiveness and any other areas of our lives not pleasing to the Father.
3.Cut pickles into ½ inch slices
Once we except Christ expect the enemy of our souls to start cutting on you. ( you can’t stay a Christian, You couldn’t ever be a goody two shoes… Remember the enemy will use friends, relatives, etc… to try to get you back. Be wise to him!
Note: to believers, All things work for good to those that love the Lord, allow the Lord to use these cutting times to get closer to you. Learn and practice His presence.
4. Return to jar! Hey what happened? I am a new person but I still have the same body, the same job, the same school? But, even thou I look the same I am a new vessel. You will still be you, but with new thinking.
5. Add sugar! Time to get into the word.
Psalm 119:103
How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Proverbs 24 13My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:
14So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
6. Time for the 3 Tablespoon of cider vinegar. This time God will put back a Spirit within you that still looks like you and tastes likes you, but because of the sweet word of God filling you and changing you, you will be renewed by the word of God. This time the vinegar is sweet, because of the word changing us.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
7. Add the 1 Tablespoon of onion (you will still have tears with your new life, but now we have the peace that passes understanding that yes, James 1 12Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Also, as the great song says, “If I’d never had a problem I wouldn’t know that God could solve them.”
8. Add 1 Tablespoon of celery seed (It’s time to get planted in a church that teaches the word of God.) Only something with a seed planted starts growing. (Don’t despise small beginnings. 1 Timothy 4:12
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
9. Cover / put the lid back on 1 Corinthians 6:20
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Psalm 91:4
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psalm 3:3
But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
10. Shake until covered Our Lord wants us all and He will allow us to be shaken so He can get to every part.
I Peter 4 12Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
13But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
11. Refrigerate for at least 1 week,
I love this! A week is 7 days and 7 is the number of completion. Let the Lord do a complete work in you,
12. Shake occasionally remember be wise. The enemy of our soul is going to plan to shake you up , but God will be there to use the shaking to get closer to you. I love that the shaking is on # 12 Gov. Authority. Stand on the word and what you have learned. (Ep. 6 put on the whole armor…)
Friday, June 24, 2011
Time for Streching!
Stretching 2 be all you can be
Allowing God to stretch us is walking in faith to do something that in our own strength we feel inadequate. As we allow the Lord to stretch us He will fill us with more of Him.
PS 81:10 Psalm 81:10
10I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
Hebrews 10:23
23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Romans 8:31-39
31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Perhaps one of the simplest illustrations of this is when Peter was standing in the boat on Sea of Galilee. He saw Jesus walking on the water and he said, “Well, Lord if it is really you, then I want to walk,” and Jesus gave him a stretching exercise—did he not. He gave Peter a one word sentence. Jesus spoke and said, “Come.” Now, does Peter have the Word of the Lord? Absolutely he does. Now, it is up to Peter to decide whether or not to obey. Do you think Peter might have been uncomfortable? I think that it was possible that he was uncomfortable, but he obeyed. He stepped out of the boat. Was that a stretch of faith? Certainly it was. That is a very good example of what I am trying to say here.
Jesus gave him the word, “Come,” which means—you can do it. Peter stretched, and he is the only other man that ever, as far as it is recorded in Scripture, walked on water.
Let me ask you this question. What happens to a muscle when it is regularly stretched? Could we say that it becomes flexible, versatile, efficient, strong, and growing?— Would you like those applied to your spiritual life? I would; especially, when I consider the antonyms—weak, brittle, and inflexible.
What happens to a muscle when it is not regularly stretched? Does it stay the same? No, it shrinks from disuse. I am very sad to say that I know literally thousands of people whose faith has shrunk because they had not been stretching their faith muscles in obedience to the written Word of God.
When I say that God is going to stretch you, I do not mean that you are human taffy. I mean that He is going to ask you to do something, and you will have to decide whether to stretch in faith. You will see it at every instance in the Bible that when you stretch, you will touch the hand of the God.
Have you ever heard of a comfort zone?
Well, I want you to think about your comfort zones as you are reading this transcription.I do not know about you, but I have a lot of comfort zones.
First, I want you to think about what we might call your spiritual comfort zones; in other words, do you need to stretch in
• your prayer life,
• your speaking in tongues life,
• your interpretation of tongues life,
• your prophecy life,
• your ministering healing life,
• your witnessing life, or your financial giving life,
.
Let me ask you this. Were you uncomfortable the first time that you ever prayed out loud in front of someone? Chances are that you might have been, but are you uncomfortable now? If the answer is no, what happened?
This happened because you kept stretching, and you got more flexible. Your comfort zone has now expanded.
Were you uncomfortable the first time that you ever spoke in tongues?
A lot of people were, but are you uncomfortable when you speak in tongues now? If you are not, your comfort zone has expanded.
If you are still uncomfortable, then you are not stretching enough. If you stretch enough, your comfort zone will expand.
In 1 Kings 17:17 we are going to see the same principle. This is about the man named Elijah a prophet who moonlighted as a weatherman.
One night, he was giving the weather forecast to King Ahab (who was not a nice guy). Elijah said, “Look, it ain’t gonna rain no more no more until I say so!”
Now I doubt if Ahab freaked out at that moment and tried to grab Elijah. He just probably thought Elijah was a nut, but some months later, not a drop of rain had fallen. A severe famine gripped the land, and Ahab was looking for Elijah; in fact, he had an “All Points Bulletin” out on Elijah. Elijah was hiding out at a place called Zerephath with a widow woman. A terrible tragedy took place there.
1 Kings 17:17
Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.
Now, God forbid that you even know anyone who loses a child, but think about this; do not just let this be words on a page. Look carefully at verse 18 because I am going to assert that from my experience, most Christians cannot accurately explain this verse. Look what she said to Elijah:
1 Kings 17:18
She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
Think about this. Elijah has been staying there. She has been feeding him from the little food that she has. Now, she says, “Nice, I feed you, and you kill my kid.” Why did the widow woman attribute the death of her son to God? We are going to see in a couple of verses later that Elijah also attributes the death of the boy to God.
1 Kings 17:19 and 20 19And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
20And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
21And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
22And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
23And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
24And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
1 Kings 17:21 and 22
(21) Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!”
(22) The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived.
I do know that the first time that Elijah stretched himself out on the boy nothing happened. Would you say that possibly Elijah may have been uncomfortable? He stretched himself again and nothing happened. Would you say that possibly Elijah may have been more uncomfortable? I think that he was. This is the next question: What if he had allowed his discomfort to stop him from stretching the third time? They would have had a funeral instead of party, but despite his discomfort, Elijah stretched himself one more time on the boy, and the child’s life came into him. Think about what happened in Elijah’s heart. Elijah said, “Wow!” He then took the boy down and said, “Hey momma check this out, dah-dah!” When you stretch in response to the Word of God, you will touch the hand of God.
John 21:18 (NKJ)…you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.”
Is this not a turning point? Yes, it is. This is what Jesus is saying, “Peter, up until now, you have done your own thing, like when you chopped off the guy’s ear. That was unbelievable, but in the future, shortly, when you are older, or down the road, you will stretch and someone else will gird you and take you places that you had never even thought about going.” Jesus is talking about what? He is speaking about the one-size fits all expando holy spirit that Peter was about to receive. What is Jesus telling him? He is telling Peter, “your capacity to stretch is about to be supernaturally enlarged.” John It [carry] is the same word which happens to be from the root word phero and is the same word that you will find in 2 Peter 1:21[moved].
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply [fervently—ekteino—stretchingly], because love covers over a multitude of sins.
God is going to ask you to stretch. The Lord Jesus is going to ask you to stretch as he stretched when he lived on this earth. They will always be clear about the stretching exercise. They will never ask you to stretch farther than you can stretch, but they will ask you to stretch as far as you can stretch. That is going to often mean that you are going to be uncomfortable, but if you will refuse to allow your discomfort, how about calling it fear, if you will have no fear that you allow to stop you from obeying God, and if you stretch, you will touch the power of God. That is what happened to you the first time that you opened your mouth to speak in tongues. You had to stretch in faith, and when you did, the words were there. If you do not step out of the boat, you will never walk on the water. If you step out of the boat, if the Lord told you to do it, then you will walk on the water, and your faith will grow.
The prophets needed to stretch. The school was too small…
II Kings 6
• Went to Master (leader)
• Behold (Look agree with us)
• Let’s get busy
• Prayed that the Master go with them
• They got busy (working as unto God)
• Integrity (it was borrowed, be sure to do right thing)
• Went to master
• Master gave instructions
• Miracles came
Allowing God to stretch us is walking in faith to do something that in our own strength we feel inadequate. As we allow the Lord to stretch us He will fill us with more of Him.
PS 81:10 Psalm 81:10
10I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
Hebrews 10:23
23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Romans 8:31-39
31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Perhaps one of the simplest illustrations of this is when Peter was standing in the boat on Sea of Galilee. He saw Jesus walking on the water and he said, “Well, Lord if it is really you, then I want to walk,” and Jesus gave him a stretching exercise—did he not. He gave Peter a one word sentence. Jesus spoke and said, “Come.” Now, does Peter have the Word of the Lord? Absolutely he does. Now, it is up to Peter to decide whether or not to obey. Do you think Peter might have been uncomfortable? I think that it was possible that he was uncomfortable, but he obeyed. He stepped out of the boat. Was that a stretch of faith? Certainly it was. That is a very good example of what I am trying to say here.
Jesus gave him the word, “Come,” which means—you can do it. Peter stretched, and he is the only other man that ever, as far as it is recorded in Scripture, walked on water.
Let me ask you this question. What happens to a muscle when it is regularly stretched? Could we say that it becomes flexible, versatile, efficient, strong, and growing?— Would you like those applied to your spiritual life? I would; especially, when I consider the antonyms—weak, brittle, and inflexible.
What happens to a muscle when it is not regularly stretched? Does it stay the same? No, it shrinks from disuse. I am very sad to say that I know literally thousands of people whose faith has shrunk because they had not been stretching their faith muscles in obedience to the written Word of God.
When I say that God is going to stretch you, I do not mean that you are human taffy. I mean that He is going to ask you to do something, and you will have to decide whether to stretch in faith. You will see it at every instance in the Bible that when you stretch, you will touch the hand of the God.
Have you ever heard of a comfort zone?
Well, I want you to think about your comfort zones as you are reading this transcription.I do not know about you, but I have a lot of comfort zones.
First, I want you to think about what we might call your spiritual comfort zones; in other words, do you need to stretch in
• your prayer life,
• your speaking in tongues life,
• your interpretation of tongues life,
• your prophecy life,
• your ministering healing life,
• your witnessing life, or your financial giving life,
.
Let me ask you this. Were you uncomfortable the first time that you ever prayed out loud in front of someone? Chances are that you might have been, but are you uncomfortable now? If the answer is no, what happened?
This happened because you kept stretching, and you got more flexible. Your comfort zone has now expanded.
Were you uncomfortable the first time that you ever spoke in tongues?
A lot of people were, but are you uncomfortable when you speak in tongues now? If you are not, your comfort zone has expanded.
If you are still uncomfortable, then you are not stretching enough. If you stretch enough, your comfort zone will expand.
In 1 Kings 17:17 we are going to see the same principle. This is about the man named Elijah a prophet who moonlighted as a weatherman.
One night, he was giving the weather forecast to King Ahab (who was not a nice guy). Elijah said, “Look, it ain’t gonna rain no more no more until I say so!”
Now I doubt if Ahab freaked out at that moment and tried to grab Elijah. He just probably thought Elijah was a nut, but some months later, not a drop of rain had fallen. A severe famine gripped the land, and Ahab was looking for Elijah; in fact, he had an “All Points Bulletin” out on Elijah. Elijah was hiding out at a place called Zerephath with a widow woman. A terrible tragedy took place there.
1 Kings 17:17
Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.
Now, God forbid that you even know anyone who loses a child, but think about this; do not just let this be words on a page. Look carefully at verse 18 because I am going to assert that from my experience, most Christians cannot accurately explain this verse. Look what she said to Elijah:
1 Kings 17:18
She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
Think about this. Elijah has been staying there. She has been feeding him from the little food that she has. Now, she says, “Nice, I feed you, and you kill my kid.” Why did the widow woman attribute the death of her son to God? We are going to see in a couple of verses later that Elijah also attributes the death of the boy to God.
1 Kings 17:19 and 20 19And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
20And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
21And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
22And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
23And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
24And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
1 Kings 17:21 and 22
(21) Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!”
(22) The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived.
I do know that the first time that Elijah stretched himself out on the boy nothing happened. Would you say that possibly Elijah may have been uncomfortable? He stretched himself again and nothing happened. Would you say that possibly Elijah may have been more uncomfortable? I think that he was. This is the next question: What if he had allowed his discomfort to stop him from stretching the third time? They would have had a funeral instead of party, but despite his discomfort, Elijah stretched himself one more time on the boy, and the child’s life came into him. Think about what happened in Elijah’s heart. Elijah said, “Wow!” He then took the boy down and said, “Hey momma check this out, dah-dah!” When you stretch in response to the Word of God, you will touch the hand of God.
John 21:18 (NKJ)…you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.”
Is this not a turning point? Yes, it is. This is what Jesus is saying, “Peter, up until now, you have done your own thing, like when you chopped off the guy’s ear. That was unbelievable, but in the future, shortly, when you are older, or down the road, you will stretch and someone else will gird you and take you places that you had never even thought about going.” Jesus is talking about what? He is speaking about the one-size fits all expando holy spirit that Peter was about to receive. What is Jesus telling him? He is telling Peter, “your capacity to stretch is about to be supernaturally enlarged.” John It [carry] is the same word which happens to be from the root word phero and is the same word that you will find in 2 Peter 1:21[moved].
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply [fervently—ekteino—stretchingly], because love covers over a multitude of sins.
God is going to ask you to stretch. The Lord Jesus is going to ask you to stretch as he stretched when he lived on this earth. They will always be clear about the stretching exercise. They will never ask you to stretch farther than you can stretch, but they will ask you to stretch as far as you can stretch. That is going to often mean that you are going to be uncomfortable, but if you will refuse to allow your discomfort, how about calling it fear, if you will have no fear that you allow to stop you from obeying God, and if you stretch, you will touch the power of God. That is what happened to you the first time that you opened your mouth to speak in tongues. You had to stretch in faith, and when you did, the words were there. If you do not step out of the boat, you will never walk on the water. If you step out of the boat, if the Lord told you to do it, then you will walk on the water, and your faith will grow.
The prophets needed to stretch. The school was too small…
II Kings 6
• Went to Master (leader)
• Behold (Look agree with us)
• Let’s get busy
• Prayed that the Master go with them
• They got busy (working as unto God)
• Integrity (it was borrowed, be sure to do right thing)
• Went to master
• Master gave instructions
• Miracles came
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